Pakistani intelligence considers that an American in custody nearly for a month for killing two Pakistani men on motorcycles, was working undercover for the CIA, an official said on Monday.

Pakistani intelligence considers that an American in custody nearly for a month for killing two Pakistani men on motorcycles, was working undercover for the CIA, an official said on Monday.

Washington insists Raymond Davis has diplomatic immunity and acted in self-defence when he shot two men in a busy street in the eastern city of Lahore on January 27, fearing that he was about to be robbed.

His detention has sparked a diplomatic crisis between the United States and Pakistan.

“It is beyond any shadow of a doubt that he was working for CIA," an official from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency said.

The official said the shooting in broad daylight at a busy junction on January 27 in the eastern city of Lahore and Pakistan’s subsequent arrest of Raymond Davis had damaged relations with the Central Intelligence Agency.

“He’s on contract. He’s not a regular CIA guy, but he’s working for CIA. That’s confirmed," the Pakistani official said.

The government in Islamabad is under enormous pressure not to be seen as kowtowing to US demands for Davis’ release and has come under fire over how American officials are seemingly free to drive around with loaded weapons.

The United States has postponed a round of high-level talks with Afghanistan and Pakistan following failed attempts to get Davis out, and some US lawmakers have threatened to cut payments to Pakistan unless he is freed.

The Pakistani intelligence official said relations between ISI and the CIA had also taken a knocking. “Our relations with the CIA are now sort of pretty dicey. It has affected our relationship," the official told AFP.

“He was sort of working behind our backs. Normal CIA guys — we know who they are. We interact with them regularly. We know they’re CIA, but in this particular case we had no knowledge of him," the official added.

A court last week deferred any judgement on whether Davis has diplomatic immunity and gave the foreign ministry until March 14 to determine his status.